officials are still providing few details about the extent of the damage to four reactors a the a nuclear power plant. >> the head of the u.n.'s nuclear agency is heading to japan to get more information. today the u.s. military sent two fire trucks to help battle fires at the fukushima plant. but they haven't been asked to use troops to help. meantime, japan's defense ministry decided against a proposed plan to dump water from helicopters over the badly damaged plants. radiation levels are just too high. you can see in this photo a

big hole has opened in the containment vessel around the reactor, and large portions have collapsed. here is more on the plant workers who are putting their own workers putting their own lives in jeopardy to prevent a bigger catastrophe. >> reporter: they are the nameless, brave souls who volunteered or perhaps been asked to be the last line of defense. because they have specific skills and nerves of steel. five workers have already died and two are missing after the latest fire and two dozen are injured. nuclear experts say the skell ton crew are not managers, but probably technicians, men with the schematics of the plant in their head and can fix the clogged vents. they have crawled through the dark mazes, armed with flash lights and radiation detectors wearing the full body hazmat suits and breathing through cumbersome oxygen tanks. all the while, deadly doses are all-around them. their suits are protecting their airways, but doing

precious little to prevent radiation from seeping into their bodies. >> at this point it is not clear what radiation levels they are being exposed to. i think they would put themselves ater is risks just like our military put themselves at risk to accomplish a mission. >> reporter: they fought fires, one sparked by fuel oil when a worker had to walk away from a diesel generator. they are trying to douse flames and pouring sea water on to the reactor through makeshift fire pumps. radiation sickness sets in after exposure at once. but the crisis crew are likely facing levels up to 8,000 times that. that's more radiation than a u.s. worker would face in a career, and what some experts consider lethal. they are anonymous heroism, and it is recognized by the world. people sent tributes via tweets. one man said whatever the closest meddle of honor nobel peace prize, they deserve that. they have wives, children, families facing their own

perils outside the evacuation zone. but they wait and watch from afar and worry. >> their dedication to their country and to their work and to their fellow person is really demonstrating a willingness to work through trying conditions to help protect both the country of japan and their fellow citizens. also today japanese auto companies extended shut downs of car assembly plants affected by the country's quake and tsunami. california senator barbara boxer will chair a meeting this afternoon on japan's nuclear crisis, and its potential ramifications for the united states. the environmental protection agency says it will install more electronic monitors along the west coast to measure radiation levels in the air. there are already 12 monitors stationed across california. the epa and the nuclear regulators said repeatedly there is little chance that dangerous levels of radiation from japan would ever make it to the united states. despite the repeated

assurances regarding radiation here, health stores and drugstores have seen a sudden run on potassium iodide pills. they are sometimes prescribed to protect against radiation exposure. potassium iodide blocks the thyroid glan from absorbing radiation, but it can be harmful if misused. virtually every bay area store that carries the pills say they are soldout. the pills are going for as much as $500 a bottle on e bay. as res skew and recovery efforts -- a rescue and recovery efforts continue in japan, we have a story how one japanese exchange student in california discovered her family's fate through youtube. she attends uc riverside and spent three days on-line searching for any signs of her family. they live in a small fishing village where half of the residents are missing and feared dead. she lost all hope until she received a message from a friend in japan about a youtube video. >> my friends called me.

she is in japan. i think it is your sister. she said please tell my younger sister in america we all survived. >> that's her sister holding the sign. she is now using the internet to let her relatives know she received their mess seeming and is thankful to them for thinking of her when they are dealing with this tragedy. dozens of california students studying in japan are ordered to return to the u.s. yesterday the california state university chancellor sent a memo to the system's schools that directs them to bring back the 65 students studying in japan. that includes a dozen san francisco state students. the schools are also being asked to help japanese international students studying here to get back home. stanford says all 35 of its students studying in japan are also on their way home.

the uc schools are not yet asking their study abroad students to return home. the university of california schools are facing tough cuts that could affect hundreds of thousands of students and staff across the state. they are letting uc administrators know how they feel about the fact. jaw national -- janell wang joins us now. >> cheryl, the cut is $500 million for the next school year, and that is the best case scenario. today uc workers let the board of regents know they are not happy. security was tight at the few different groups showing up at the meeting, upset their benefits may be cut. this meeting was not as rowdy as a couple months ago when the board decided to raise tuition, but the university still calls these cuts devastating. the uc president has asked all 10 schools and the uc medical centers to make cuts totaling $500 million. the smaller schools like ucsf

and santa cruz will have to cut about $30 million, but the bigger schools like berkeley and ucla will have to cut over $80 million. each school will present their proposed cuts to the regents who will make sure they are responsible plans under the circumstances. >> what we will hear today are a series of scenarios that take into account the current cut and we will see how it will play out in each campus, what programs we would have to cut. what services we would have to cut, and how each campus will adapt in this new future we are are facing. >> reporter: the uc regents are paying close attention to what is happening in sacramento where the state assembly and senate scheduled a 1 p.m. vote. governor brown wants the legislature to approve a june special election where voters will be asked to extend sales, vehicle and income taxes so the budget cuts won't be as severe.

even if the extensions are approved, the uc system will see $500 million in cuts, but the state warns there could be more if the taxes are not extended. the only school exempt is uc merced and that's because it is a smaller and newer school and unable to absorb any cuts. live at the mission bay campus in san francisco, abc7 news. >> thank you very much. a new field poll finds a majority of voters do support a special election. 58% said they would vote to extend taxes for an additional five years. and more than 51% say they prefer the governor's approach of the special election over letting lawmakers solve the budget deficit alone. the poll found voter support for cutting just two areas of state government spending, courts and prisons. voters strongly opposed cuts to public schools, higher education and healthcare for low income and disabled californians. california faces more than $26 billion budget deficit. the alameda police department is asking for help

identifying a suspect in what they call an attempted kidnapping. a 10-year-old girl told teachers at washington elementary that a man approached her and touched her inappropriately. this was while she walked to school yesterday morning. it happened near the intersection of eighth street and central avenue. the victim told police she got away with the help of an unidentified woman and only had a vague description of the suspect. if you have any information, you are asked to call alameda police. prosecutors want to play what was a threatening voicemail from barry bonds to his then girlfriend. they say the 11 voicemails show the former giant slugger became threatening and violent after he supposedly began taking banned drugs. bonds is accused of lying to a federal grand jury investigating his suspected it steroid use. he has pleaded not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice. bonds' defense team wants the tape not allowed saying it is a waste of the court court's time. state regulators could at

any moment now hit pg&e with massive fines and order expensive tests in the wake of revolutions that the utility cannot find documents proving all its gas lines are safe. heather you arish is live in -- heather ishimaru is live with the details. heather? >> inside the public utility commission office this morning, a team is reviewing pg&e's submission made last night, uncheer when the cpuc might have something to say about it. pg&e submitted a 154-page summary of its month-long record search last night. they say they looked, but cannot yet find evidence of tests supporting pressure levels set on one-third of its transmission lines in high population areas. so it says it will immediately begin hydro testing not waiting for an order on most of 152 miles worth of pipe similar to what exploded in san bruno where eight people died and 38 homes were

destroyed. the high pressure water testing is expensive, up to $500,000 a mile. and it can require taking a line out of service for days. in the meantime, the cpuc has the authority to order other safety precautions. >> if we lack the information for the public utilities commission to be confident those pipelines are being operated on safely, we will take action to lower the pressure. >> pg&e said a 20% pressure reduction will not adversely affect customers, at least not during the warmer months. if the work continues into winter, all bets are off. and there is the question of who will pay for this, the customer or the utility? that too is in the hands of the cupc. heather ishimaru. and the coffee giant that

could be buying the bay area rival. and the heavy hitter calling on iran for two detained hikers and the test results that could have the government reexamining their [ mom ] yes.nte. oh, i'll borrow hailey's. you're downloading movies. fast! from here? where is her cord?! we switched to at&t high speed internet and got wireless access. no more cords. wireless, okay, honestly, can i just get a cord, please? dad, the cord's invisible. [ female announcer ] for a limited time,

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best first date. ever. [ male announcer ] the all-new chevy cruze. with real-time facebook status updates. when the good news just can't wait. of long beach, california. you can see this is a plane crash. it was a twin-engine plane that crashed and burned at the airport in long beach. the flight was taking off for salt lake city and it crashed

around 10:30 this morning. we don't have any word on how many people on board and whether anybody on the ground was injured. we will follow this for you and have it in the updates on abc7news.com. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton encouraged egypt's transitional leaders to follow through. pledges to make democratic reform. clip ton is the highest ranking u.s. official to visit egypt since protesters oped mubarak. -- oisd mubarak. >> the munsters say we have an expression, it is like drinking from a fire hose. there is so much to be done in the area and the united states is ready to help. it is a new reality for egypt. >> in bahrain soldiers and riot police are using teargas and armored vehicles to expel hundreds of anti-government protesters from the square in the capital. reports say at least five people have been killed during clashes between troops and

those challenging the 200-year-old monarchy there. mohammad ali is putting his power to win the tree dom of two american hikers jailed in iran. ali, possibly one of the most prominent u.s. muslims sent a letter asking for the released of the former uc berkeley students. the two have been held on spy charges since 2009. a third hiker was released last year. the letter asks as a veteran muslim to show compassion for the two men. and an air passenger rights group is urging the government to stop using the controversial airport body scanners immediately after a stunning admission. the transportation security administration says new tests show the scanners produce radiation levels 10 times higher than expected. the tsa blames it on a calculation error, but insists the 500 machines at the airports are safe because it takes 1,000 screenings to equal the radiation of one

medical chest x ray. previously passengers complained about how much the body scanners reveal. ahead we will have the forecast. >> yeah, spring showers are bringing april flowers for us. things are blooming and the rain is much needed. and there is more on the way, but i have found some dry spots. when

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the state public utilities commission is holding its first public hearings today on plans to add a second area code in silicon valley. the current prefix is running out of numbers so a new 669 area code will be created. the puc has to decide whether to assign the new code to some existing numbers and use 669 for future customers. there are two meetings, one at 2 p.m. and one at 7 p.m. you can find more information by clicking on the see it on tv link on our website, abc7news.com. >> i say let's get the 4-1-1 on the rain, but i used that a couple times. >> it still works. let's look outside and show you what is going on. how about the 411 on the airport? the delays are over as most of the rain is also over. with this moist flow and the

low hanging clouds, we may get a few scattered sprinkle throughout the afternoon. and we can even mix in a few pockets of sunshine. we'll show you live doppler 7hd. there is nothing going on on the radar right now. as we look also at some of the sky over the bay that was dry, let's broaden out our horizons so to speak and the best rains up to the north and snow, a foot to two feet of snow fell last night in the sierra. the ski resorts are quite happy as you will be when you get there this weekend. low to mid50s around the bay right now. the temperatures haven't moved much since this morning. slightly warmer than this morning around the monterey bay and inland. so we will see some sunny spots, but also a sprinkle is not out of the realm of possibilities. tonight the clouds start to clear and it gets foggy and much cooler than the last couple mornings. scattered showers are in the forecast for tomorrow. not going to be any big change

in plans. that would be friday when the cold front comes through with thunderstorms, brief, heavy rain that may cause flooding of streets and parking lots, and even snow. levels down to mount hamilton's height. for today though, we will have upper 50s to the low 60s in most neighborhoods and mid60s out to the coast. we will have monterey at 59 and the rest of the bay in the low 60s along with your inland neighborhoods. looking around the state snow up in tahoe and 57 in yosemite. rain in the valleys in the higher elevations from bakersfield northward. los angeles sunny and 70 and look at palm springs, even more warm at 84. the 30s tonight. morgan hill and livermore and fairfield, napa, santa rosa and cloverdale, notice the fog in the north bay valleys. it is low to mid40s tomorrow morning. here is a look at what happened over the last 10 hours. a cold front rolled through. that's the triggering america nesm for the showers. it has moved out, but the plume of moisture in the

midand upper levels is still here. that's why i think for the most part we will have a dry afternoon, but a stray shower is still possible. here is the way it looks on our radar and on our future radar here at 6:00. it is pretty clear. overnight you can see the clear sky and the fog and cool temperatures. the best chance of showers is mainly in the north bay. some of those will scatter around during the evening and overnight hours. look at the big deal on friday at 7:00. heavy rain in the north bay and heavy rain around the bay by noon and then heavy rain in the south bay by about 4:00. we are talking rainfall amounts of half inch to an inch and double that in the mountains. the accu-weather seven-day forecast, we will have showers on saturday and rain on sunday. sunday will be the biggest day for the wet weather to knockout your plans. the rain spills into monday, but tuesday looks dry right now. >> mike, thanks. apple has changed how apps are authorized. the changes were prompted after customers complained kids were wracking up hundreds

of dollars in charges. it was so bad that they asked the federal trade commission to investigate. once you are adding apps like smurf village you must re-enter your password every time you try to buy something. is pete's selling out to the world's largest coffee shop chain? rumors of a deal between pete's and seattle-based starbucks have been floating around for awhile, but according to reports the talks are more serious in recent months. the report also says pete's may be sold to another company. wow. >> and we will be ri

coming up later today, we will hear from a muslim woman kicked off a southwest airlines flight for something she said during a cell phone conversation. that and more on abc7 news at 5:00. that will do it for now. what do you think, will we need the umbrella? >> probably not. they will be few and far between. we will need it definitely friday morning. >> thanks for the heads up. and thank you for joining us today. >> "who wants q

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